BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday as investors reacted to a slew of corporate earnings announcements from the region, and digested the interest rate decisions of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.
The ECB held its key rates unchanged, as policymakers assessed that the outlook was broadly unchanged, but still uncertain due to global trade conflicts and geopolitical tensions.
The ECB said policymakers will 'follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate monetary policy stance'.
The Fed lowered its interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that another interest rate cut by the central bank is unlikely this year.
Mixed earnings from major U.S. tech firms, and big name European companies also rendered the mood cautious.
Investors also digested the developments on the trade front, where U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping said today that they have reached a trade deal.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.01%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 crept up 0.04%, Germany's DAX ended 0.02% down, and France's CAC 40 closed down by 0.53%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.04% down.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Spain and Turkiye closed weak.
Czech Republic, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Sweden ended higher.
In the UK market, Standard Chartered gained 3.7% after reporting higher quarterly profit and lifting its income and return outlook. Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders was $1.03 billion, up 10% from $931 million a year ago. Basic earnings per share grew 7.7% to 44.5 US cents from 36.8 US cents last year.
Airtel Africa, which closed with strong gains on Wednesday after upbeat results, gained nearly 2.5% today. Auto Trader Group, Centrica, GSK, Haleon, IAG, Games Workshop, Metlen Energy & Metals, Beazley, Hiscox, BP, Tesco, Informa, Sainsbury (J) and Endeavour Mining gained 1 to 2%.
WPP tanked 16.1% after the company cut its growth forecasts. The British advertising major reported lower revenues in its third quarter and first nine months of fiscal 2025, with weak performance in all regions and business segments.
JD Sports Fashion ended 3.4% down. Whitbread closed down by about 2.7%. Burberry Group, Segro, Glencore, Land Securities, Anglo American Plc, Babcock International, Entain, Pearson, Antofagasta, Diageo, M&G and Rio Tinto also ended notably lower.
In the German market, Scout24 climbed 3%. RWE, SAP, Adidas, Siemens, Allianz and Munich RE closed with sharp to moderate gains.
Bayer, Merck, Deutsche Telekom and Porsche Automobil lost 2.4 to 3%.
Volkswagen ended nearly 2% down. The company reported a 1.3-billion-euro ($1.52 billion) operating loss in the third quarter.
Rheinmetall, Qiagen, BASF, Siemens Healthineers, Mercedes-Benz and BMW also ended notably lower.
Airline Lufthansa soared more than 7% thanks to stronger than expected third-quarter earnings. Covestro Group posted a third quarter loss attributable to shareholders of 47 million euros compared to profit of 33 million euros, last year.
HelloFresh reported a drop in adjusted earnings before interest and tax at 2.01 million euros, compared to prior year's profit of 6.7 million euros. The stock gained about 0.75%.
Puma closed more than 8% down, after reporting a net loss of 62.3 million euros in the third quarter, compared to prior year's net income of 127.8 million euros. Loss per share was 0.42 euro, compared to earnings of 0.86 euro a year ago.
In the French market, Airbus climbed more than 2.5%. Engie gained about 1.2%.
Stellantis tumbled nearly 9% after warning of one-time charges in the second half of the year.
Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, Kering, Schneider Electric, Renault, Teleperformance and STMicroElectronics lost 2 to 4.3%.
TotalEnergies declined sharply after reporting a 2.4% drop in third-quarter earnings.
LVMH, Saint-Gobain, BNP Paribas, Bouygues, Pernod Ricard, Publicis Groupe and Burea Veritas also closed weak.
In economic news, according to preliminary estimate from Destatis, the German economy stagnated in the third quarter, with the GDP remaining unchanged as expected, following a revised decline of 0.2 percent in the second quarter.
Destatis said the investment in equipment developed positively, while exports declined from the prior quarter.
On a yearly basis, calendar-adjusted GDP logged a steady growth of 0.3% in the third quarter. Price-adjusted GDP also climbed 0.3% but reversed the 0.1% fall seen in the previous quarter.
France's economic growth accelerated in the third quarter despite political uncertainty and trade tensions, official data revealed today.
Gross domestic product registered a quarterly growth of 0.5%, following a 0.3% rise in the second quarter, the statistical office INSEE reported. The growth was expected to ease to 0.2%.
The euro area economy expanded at a faster pace in the third quarter, preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product climbed 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, after rising 0.1% in the second quarter. GDP growth was expected to remain unchanged at 0.1%.
On a yearly basis, GDP growth eased to 1.3% from 1.5% in the prior quarter. However, the rate was better than forecast of 1.2%.
The EU27 also grew at a faster pace in the third quarter, up 0.3% sequentially, following a 0.2% rise a quarter ago. The annual growth in GDP was 1.5% compared to 1.6% in the second quarter.
The Euro Area unemployment rate held steady, coming in at 6.3% in September. Germany's unemployment rate came in at 6.3% in October, as expected.
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